Hart Audio Special Source Vinyl Super Cleaner Mk3

The Hart Audio Special Source Vinyl Super Cleaner Mk3 is a wooden block to which is attached microfiber brush, which is a synthetic fiber finer than one denier or decitex/thread, having a diameter of less than ten micrometers. It's a mix of polyester, polyamide, and polypropylene. The Mk3 has a stiffer, shorter bristle than the older Mk2.

According to the designer: "It is easy to use by simply applying the brush against the groove either manually or against the force of the platter. This collects all the matter in the groove and and leaves it in a little pile on top of the record under the brush"...in the usual dry brush method.

Mr Hart claims "The velvet type has pile that is too short and bends back when cleaning, so pushes debris down into the groove. Not good! The carbon brush type does the same as the velvet but the fibres are too thick to get into the groove and so less than efficient." His brush's small fibers, he claims, are long enough to angle against the groove to dig dirt out and leave it on the top to wipe off easily. He also says the brush is a good stylus cleaner.

There's been a recent semi-explosion in record cleaning brushes, both dry like this one and wet and also a very interesting hand operated "record spinner". Both this dry and the wet and the record spinner are better for a YouTube video than for a written review, so you can see these things in action. That video will be forthcoming.

Meanwhile the Hart Audio brush is available on Ebay UK but if you email directly to davidgowler-hart@hotmail.co.uk and use "Keep Flippin" as the discount code you can get free UK postage and £4 off overseas orders. If you are having trouble with that email address try this one: dgh.hartaudio@gmail.com and remember to add "Keep Flippin". The Ebay UK price is £24.

Stay tuned for the YouTube video, which will be produced and posted ASAP.

COMMENTS
jazz's picture

at the moment unfortunately, bounces back, possibly on global blacklist

jazz's picture

so I’m hopeful to reach him. If this is an option to remove the one or other tic more without washing, it’ll be worth the try. I also see the wood look extremely cheap, but better 24£ like that, then 74£ with oak.

David Hart's picture

Hi, Did I meet your order? I have a high quality lacquer finish for all future sales. I agree the finish is important. Many thanks.

David Hart's picture

Please make a gift payments on Paypal. My paypal email is davidgowler-hart@hotmail.co.uk Otherwise it's an ebay purchase with all the usual fees.
But, you get a £4 saving international £29 +£1 exchange so £30 or free UK postage with direct payment so please send £24 (UK) or £30 (Int) by gift if you can.

David Hart's picture

I have a few in nicely figured Zebrano wood. Lovely dark stripes in a coffee grain. Very tastefull and high gloss lacquer finish. Same price just let me know when you order. And thanks for liking the product.

ivansbacon's picture

I would love to get just the brush part and make my own wood handle to attach it to. (or even manufacture a nice handle for the "designer")

The wood looks like a piece of scrape from the pile out back with no care taken to finish it or make it look like a quality item i should spend $30.00 plus shipping on. (or be proud to have sitting next to my Turntable)

Thing Fish's picture

I thought the same when I saw it. Put me right off buying it.

David Hart's picture

Ubber expensive luxury one coming your way soon. Still in development but I'll let you know once they are released.

ivansbacon's picture

Do not price it above it's worth or you will limit the number of folks who will be willing to purchase it.

I will not buy an "ubber expensive luxury" one. Its not necessary. just a Take a little time to sand the wood, take the hard edges off and give it a coat of tung oil or shellac.

It just needs to look like you care about making it look nice, not ubber.(Ubber effective/functional - YES)

There is no need for a record cleaning brush to be luxurious.

ivansbacon's picture

Attractive - Affordable.

I forgot to proof read the title, that would be the equivalent of not sanding of the rough edges !!

David Hart's picture

I've done about 10 now in this finish. And after a few coats of lacquer and flatting back between coats they have a lot of grain and colour improvements. So they will include that upgrade in all future purchases at no extra cost.

David Hart's picture

Sure I can do that. All units will have that done from now on. Thank you for the feedback.

David Hart's picture

Hi, I have tried to use more aesthetic methods. The Zebrano and Maple High Gloss are available on eBay. I hope you like them.

Boomer's picture

Is this supposed to be a commercial for the brush? I would have assumed that it would have been tested and an opinion given on how it is used and how it works. And yes, it looks cheaply made.

Michael Fremer's picture
It was tested. There will be a video along with a few other products.
Thing Fish's picture

Looking forward to see how the new Heart audio brush stacks up against the oposition.

Tom L's picture

Thank you for responding to the feedback here, David. The brush seems to be very well thought out, and I plan to order one in a few days.

David Hart's picture

Thanks Tom, I am grateful for the guidance. Thank you. I look forward to fulfilling your order.

terrybbagit's picture

That people are so concerned about the looks of the handle I don't care if it looks like a turd as long as it cleans my records sufficiently

David Hart's picture

The brush certainly works! The upgraded finish takes a lot of extra effort and about two days to dry for shipping. They do look better though!

David Hart's picture

Pictures now on eBay

allvinyl's picture

... the handle is not the business end of the brush. If the brush does the job I could also care less about the look of the handle. I do like the idea of a lacquer finish as that will keep any oils from your hands 'staining' the wood handle.

WesHeadley's picture

I do care how the brush looks. Unless it is dirt cheap, I would expect it to be professionally finished. Also, the finish itself matters. Is it oiled, sprayed on, or painted?

David Hart's picture

Sure I agree, Spray lacquer. Quality of wood is improved too.

This is the Mk4 now. I will reflect the Super Cleaners upgrades/improvements in the price in 72Hrs. As they are now very time consuming and more expensive to produce as I hope you can understand.

David Hart's picture

The price will not be increased for the meantime as the product is popular and it should stay that way. So rest assured. Keep Flippin, Dave

xtcfan80's picture

How ‘bout using the AudioQuest static killing brush and to-gett-about the “looks” of the tool????

David Hart's picture

I suppose the carbon brush is the longest selling brush ever. Done too many times IMHO.

Michael Fremer's picture
The latest AQ brush is great for static and it's anti-stat qualities do help pull up dust. This brush's fibers are far finer and are very effective..
dial's picture

Seems nice and efficient, sold at a good price, it's cheap.

dial's picture

What's the set up coming with the brush on the photo ?

David Hart's picture

Hart Lapis Lazuli bodied cartridge and Pioneer Exclusive 11" tonearm on a Technics SP 25 Direct Drive Turntable.

ivansbacon's picture

My Review of the brush.

After Mr Hart responded to feedback and offered a different wood and, what I read as a willingness to take more care in producing a more finished quality product, i decided to TOFTT (Take one for the team) and purchase one.

I ordered the nicer wood Zebrano unit.

I received it yesterday and after opening the package i was completely underwhelmed.

Yes the Zebrano wood looks nicer than the maple but it was apparent that not much time was taken to do any finish/sanding work on the wood. The cuts on the ends are very rough. In my opinion they are UN-sanded, the sides have light marks and lines that could have easily been removed by a little more sanding, for the price this is OK but not the rough cut ends.

In my opinion, I do much woodworking, it looks amateurish and/or indicative of a lack of care to make it a nicely finished piece of wood. This was my first assessment after seeing the Photo when this was first posted and i voiced that in my first post. I had thought because of the response from Mr Hart that proper care and sanding would be part of the process of creating the brush. The wood i received was not quite as rough looking but it was not sanded enough to make it acceptable.

I was a bit surprised when i opened the Package (A piece of cardboard folded over with the seems taped together) and found the brush to be very short. It is only 3" in length. I expected it to be similar in length to the majority, if not all, of the other brushes on the market. I.E. Long enough to cover the grooves of a record. My shortest brush is a "VinylStyl" at 4 1/4".

I am Disappointed.
Is it worth the $42.00 i paid, Perhaps, IF.

It may be acceptable to live with the lack of refinement of the wood for the value price IF it was adequately and properly sized.

I hope That Mr Hart will step up his game and make the proper changes to insure that it is properly sized and finished so that his product is one that folks would be willing purchase and proud to own. If time and care are taken in finishing the wood and make it longer it would be a very nice brush. Clearly he is open to constructive criticism so I do have hope.

I do believe the bristles of the brush are as Mr Hart stated, micro-fine and of good quality.

For $42.00 i could live with "some" lack of refinement but not the size.

Thing Fish's picture

I agree. I ordered one and the first thing that struck me was that it was too short.
At 3" it's at least 1" too short.
I don't understand why there are simple mistakes with ths item which will ultimatly lead to it's downfall.
It should be better finished and at least 1" longer.

powermatic's picture

Sorry you had to waste your money, who in the hell makes a record brush that is too short?! No review, just ad copy and product placement. Is this what we've come to?

David Hart's picture

I'm sort of stumped as the three inch brush would need to increase by a third of the price to be a four inch brush. Although in agreement an extra inch could be overlooked as it is very effective compared against the current offerings and competing on price. I would like to offer a four inch brush and if the product gains in reputation there might be room in the budget to increase the price.

Tom L's picture

I also was surprised that the brush wasn't longer, but it does cover the grooves of most LPs when held carefully. Not the run-out groove, but that just requires a little bit of motion at the end of use.
The handle on my example is simple but smooth and nicely finished. The ends are sanded flat and the corners are slightly rounded off. It looks fine in my opinion.
I dry-cleaned several LPs that weren't visibly dirty with my original (but in excellent condition) Discwasher brush and then used this one, and each time the Hart brush brought additional dust and contaminants to the surface.
I am pleased with my purchase and look forward to using it for many years. Thank you, Mr. Hart.

David Hart's picture

Thanks Tom, I am just grateful that it works so well.
Best
David

David Hart's picture

I thought I would check the length again to see if I was mistaken and checked the SuperCleaners brush length whilst in action and cleaning, on 30 randomly chosen LP's on both sides. I found the brush face just covers the groove from the end of the "lead in" to the beginning of the "runout".

David Hart's picture

We have managed to tighten the pile on the white side of the brush to add more grip and increase fine debris and contaminant removal. All future units will have this improvement included at no extra cost. So the brush will work better with the white side facing you whilst cleaning.

David Hart's picture

We are taking orders for out Hart SuperCleaner Silicone Covers. Please send £12.50 free by paypal gift with a note of your address to davidgowler-hart@hotmail.co.uk and we'll send one out to you.

Dual's picture

I responded quickly to the initial post on this subject. I was really taken aback when the product arrived; clearly too short to sweep a record without inordinate effort, and cheaply made.

I wrote to request that the missing cover (it appeared in a promotional photograph) be sent to me, and was told that this 3 inch piece of plastic would cost me £12.50 ($17.00 US).

What a disaster overall. By the way, I still see no sign of the video that's supposed to explain why this product is worth buying.

I had pretty much come to accept endorsements from Mr. Fremer as worth acting on without question, but that's no longer the case for me at all.

Dual's picture

I'll just quote an email I received minutes ago, from David Hart, in response to my above post-

"I'll send it [the cover] for free. It is a great cleaner please just give it a go. The cleaner fits most LP's. But I will send you a longer one with the protective cover. I hope you can change your mind."

You simply can't do better than that. Thank you, David.

Dual's picture

David sent me his latest iteration of the brush, and it works a charm! The handle is lengthened by sections of clear plexi, which gives it a nice finish. I haven't been bothered by the finish of any of the brushes I've received. Mikey and David, this is definitely my favorite dry brush and well worth the purchase. Thanks again to David for his support.

David Hart's picture

Longer ones will arrive in a week and sold with protective cover for £29.99 + Shipping. The eBay listing has been changed to reflect this. New orders will be shipped in a week.

Thing Fish's picture

I have been using the brush for a few weeks now and apart from being a bit short it does clean the record very well. It is in fact the best record brush I now own.

I may invest in the longer version when it comes out as it will make cleaning the whole record in one go a lot easier.

Thing Fish's picture

Is the MK5 brush shown on ebay the new 4" one with the cover?

David Hart's picture

I've extended the brush by 1/4 of an inch so that it now covers the groove on every LP record and is still suitable for use with my 7" records. It's not what you've got, it's what you do with what you've got. Sometimes you just get what you need and the record cleaner IMHO cleans records brilliantly so thanks for the accord on that at least. ATB Dave

David Hart's picture

I have managed to lengthen the brush by another 1/4 inch to 3 1/2" as I took some measurements and this works best. Took a bit of time to get it exactly right and I hope you will be pleased with the results. I look forward to an efficacy test in the video. BTW no increase in price.

David Hart's picture

I have found a way to extend to 4" at no extra cost. Orders will be fulfilled in a week on all future sales.

Thing Fish's picture

NOw 4" brilliant David!

David Hart's picture

Thank you very much for your input in the product via feedback especially ivansbacon's review which was very supported and thorough, thank you. I hope the SS SuperCleaner now meets everyones reasonable expectations and I hope you efforts are well spent in the pursuit of clean and quiet vinyl.
Many Thanks,
Dave

David Hart's picture
David Hart's picture

The price has gone up a little as we had a feasibility study and unavoidable and inevitable.

simes_pep's picture

Hi, Could I get one of those, but without the acrylic blocks glued onto the ends, i.e. the earlier shorter model, but with the nice wood finish? What’s the cost of shipping to Dublin, Ireland, as hardly ‘International’, despite what Brexit has done. Thanks, Simon

David Hart's picture

Hi Simon, Of course, please send me your address and I'll get one out to you, postage FOC.
I look forward to your order and a Mk 4 will be on it's way to you, including cover.
I would like to explain the range of applications of the Mk3 (Natural), Mk4(Lacquered) and the Mk5. The Mk3 has independent brushes and is very effective and I really don't mind 2 or 3 passes to get a scrupulously clean record and the Mk3 in natural wood does a first class job. Easy to weald and tight in the groove. The Mk4 has a stiffer white side and applies extra grip to the incoming groove, increasing efficiency. The Mk5 has the same grip as the Mk4 but full length from the label to edge and means a single pass is all that is needed. Rub the brush on the edges of the cover to fluff the dust out. Also the Silicone the cover is made from is very soft and can be placed on a polished surfaces without leaving marks. it also serves to keep the brush clean when not in use.
Please send your address to davidgowler-hart@hotmail.co.uk

David Hart's picture

Here is the page address for the Mk3 Mk4 and Mk5 on eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284385460161

nirota5536's picture

I'll definitely keep an eye out for the upcoming YouTube video to see it in action. | https://www.drywallproscleveland.com

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